Famous British singer Petula Clark said she feels “shock and disbelief” that her timeless hit “Downtown” was touched by the Nashville bomber just before her trailer exploded on Christmas Day.
“I feel the need to express my shock and disbelief at the explosion of Christmas Day in our beloved Music City. I love Nashville and its people. Why is this violent act – leaving so much devastation behind?” Clark wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
“A few hours later – I was told that the background music of that strange ad – it was me – singing” Downtown “! Of all the thousands of songs – why is that?”
Suicide bomber Anthony Quinn Warner, a 63-year-old IT worker from neighboring Antioch, Tennessee, died in the explosion that injured several people and damaged dozens of buildings in Nashville’s historic district.
The Warner trailer issued a warning that a bomb would go off in 15 minutes and then switched to a recording of Clark’s famous 1964 song “Downtown” before the explosion.
Clark said that music should be associated with joy and celebration.
“Of course, the opening letter is ‘When you are alone and life is leaving you lonely, you can always go downtown’,” she wrote. “But millions of people around the world were excited about this happy song. Maybe you can read something else in those words – depending on your mood. It’s possible.”
She expressed her support for Nashville and used an old British slogan to keep her cool under pressure.
“I would like to wrap my arms around Nashville – give a hug to all of you – and wish you love, a happy and healthy new year – and, as we sometimes say in the UK, steady the fans! !) “Clark, 88, wrote.
Clark won a Grammy in 1964 for Best Rock & Roll Record with “Downtown”. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart on January 23, 1965.
Matteo Moschella contributed.